Posts Tagged ‘logo’

By now I think it’s safe to say that we know a logo isn’t a brand, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a beneficial component to building a brand.

The best logos are those that make you look twice or maybe you’ve looked at them 1,000 times and then notice something new (like I did with the FedEx or Amazon logos). The best logos embody a company’s core values and resonate with customers.

When we developed our logo for the James R. Connor University Center, we researched who we were as an organization and how students on campus viewed us. It was nine months into the branding project before we started designing a logo. Our goal with this project was not just to develop a logo, but also change our brand image on campus. We knew the logo wasn’t the solution, but was an essential component.

After the research is done and the designing begins make sure to keep these five things in mind.

Make the logo about the company: Before you can design an image that represents your company, you need to figure out what your company stands for. The emphasis should be placed on the company and not the image. In order to differentiate one company from another it’s important to focus on what makes the company unique rater than what makes the logo unique.

Take the image below for example. Do you recognize what company this is from? Without the company name you may not remember what the image represents. In this example the emphasis was placed on the image and not the company.

Make the logo timeless: It’s very tempting for companies to want to be seen as innovative and cutting edge. What company wouldn’t want to be seen that way? A logo isn’t the way to convince customers that a company is innovative. Don’t use trendy fonts or icons in order to prove you’re “with the times”. The company’s actions should tell customers that they’re innovative and cutting edge, not their logo. Plus, you don’t want to have to redesign your logo every few years when trends change.

Make the logo scalable: Make sure the logo looks as good on a business card as it does on a billboard.

Make the logo versatile: Color is a great way to convey emotion and insert additional meaning into a logo, but remember that printing in black and white is cheaper than printing in color. Also, printing in one color is cheaper than printing in 10 colors. Color should enhance, not define, a logo.

Protect your logo: Once the logo is developed for a company, employees are going to want to use it (fingers crossed). Make sure that they know how to use it or you’ll end up with your logo skewed, distorted, and wearing a bow tie. Think about acceptable colors, backgrounds, uses, and areas of isolation. Having identity standards in place will ensure the logo looks pristine on all publications. It can be tempting to guard the use of the logo with your life and make sure no one uses it, but that won’t get buy-in from internal stakeholders. Educating them on the proper use of the logo will.

The best logos are representative of what a company stands for and what they mean to their customers. Being quirky and witty (like the arrow in the FedEx ad or the way the smile in the Amazon logo points from A to Z) can greatly enhance the appeal of a logo, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of truly representing the company.